Temperature ecotypes near the southern boundary of the kelp Laminaria saccharina

Effects of temperature on survival, growth, and photosynthesis were compared for two USA populations of Laminaria saccharina Lamour. One population was located in New York State, near the southern latitudinal boundary of the species in the western North Atlantic. This southern boundary population was exposed to ambient temperatures 20°C for about 6 wk each summer. The second population was located in Maine, toward the center of the latitudinal range of the species, and was rarely exposed to temperatures>17°C. sporophytes from the New York (NY) population exhibited greater tolerance of high temperature than plants from the Maine (ME) site. Juvenile sporophytes from the two sites had similar rates of survivorship and growth at temperatures below 20°C, but showed different responses at 20°C in laboratory experiments. NY plants survived and grew for 6 wk at 20°C. ME plants showed negative growth during wk 2 and 100% mortality during wk 3. NY and ME plants held in situ at the NY site during June to September, 1985, also exhibited differential survivorship when ambient temperatures exceeded 20°C. Results of photosynthesis and dark respiration measurements on NY and ME plants grown at various temperatures suggested that the high-temperature tolerance of NY plants was attributable to their ability to maintain positive daily net C-fixation at 20°C. The high-temperature tolerance of the NY plants appeared to be due to genetic adaptation and is probably crucial to the persistence of the species near its southern boundary.     

长江口南北支浮游动物群落生态学研究

长江口特殊的生态环境使得浮游动物的种类组成、密度和时空分布等生态特征有别于其它水体。2005年秋季（丰水期）和2006年春季（枯水期）对长江口南北支浮游动物进行了2个航次的调查,沿南北支由西向东设立3个采样断面共20个采样点。共采集到浮游动物227种,其中轮虫65种,原生动物107种,枝角类15种,桡足类40种。优势种包括龟甲轮虫（Keratella）、刺簇多肢轮虫（Polyarthra trigla）、萼花臂尾轮虫（Brachionus calyciflorus）、砂壳虫（Difflugia）、表壳虫（Arcella）、砂壳纤毛虫（Tintinnid）、中华哲水蚤（Calanus sinicus）、汤匙华哲水蚤（Sinocalanus dorrii）、广布中剑水蚤（Mesocyclops leuckarti）、象鼻溞（Bosmina）等。文章对南北两支浮游动物的种类组成和结构进行了比较,南支浮游动物的种类、数量及生物多样都高于北支,南北两支的浮游动物群落相似度很低。南北两支水域环境的不同造成其浮游动物群落结构的较大差异,文章分析了环境因子与浮游动物群落结构的相关性,其中水温是重要的影响因素,水温的季节性决定了浮游动物在时间分布上的变化。盐度对浮游动物群落结构的影响主要决定了其物种生态类型及空间分布。从整体上看,南北支主要受长江径流控制,浮游动物的种类组成以淡水种为主,咸水种在断面3出现较多。     

洞庭湖湿地Cd富集植物蒌蒿(Artemisia selengensis)的耐性生理机制研究

采用盆栽植株和外源Cd胁迫的方法,分别对不同生长期蒌蒿植株根、叶组织中的抗氧化酶活性、可溶性蛋白及MDA含量进行测定,以揭示蒌蒿在Cd胁迫下的抗氧化机理和耐受机制。研究结果表明,Cd胁迫对上述生理指标均有显著影响:≤20mg·kg-1的Cd处理可使幼苗期植株器官中的可溶性蛋白含量增加16.5%～19.1%,100mg·kg-1的Cd含量水平则导致其含量减少近30%,可溶性蛋白含量的变化与植株的生物量积累关系密切;3种酶活性在0～10mg·kg-1的Cd处理下未显示出明显变化,幼苗期植株CAT、POD活性在10～80mg·kg-1的Cd胁迫下增加明显,高于此浓度范围则使酶蛋白受到破坏而失活,中等含量水平(≤40mg·kg-1)的Cd处理经过长时间作用可使植株逐渐适应胁迫环境,胁迫强度较大的Cd处理可显著提高SOD酶的活性;Cd胁迫过程中植株MDA积累量不断增加。3种抗氧化酶活性的增强在蒌蒿植株耐受Cd胁迫方面能起到较好的防御作用。     

Protective role of epigallocatechin 3-gallate against lead-induced toxicity in human neuroblastoma cells

Lead (Pb) is a heavy metal, known to induce oxidative stress and produce damage to the antioxidant defence system ultimately leading to cell death. Antioxidants such as epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG), a green tea polyphenol, was shown to play a protective role during Pb-exposure. In this study, human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were exposed to different concentrations (0.01–10?µM) of Pb for 48?h to determine effects on the viability of cells. It was observed that IC₅₀ was at 5?µM and at this concentration the cells exhibited a significant increase in caspase-3 activity, an indicator of apoptosis at least by 10-fold and the decrease of 59.4% in glutathione (GSH) content. The total cellular prostaglandin-E₂ (PGE₂) level was found to be elevated at least 10-fold upon Pb exposure. However, the effects of Pb on cells pre-incubated with 50?µM EGCG followed by 5?µM Pb showed 40% inhibition in cell viability, 17.3% decrease in caspase-3 activity, 23% increase in GSH content, and 11.4% fall in PGE₂ levels when compared with cells exposed to Pb only. Data suggest that EGCG exerted a significant protection to cell viability in preventing cell death and elevation in levels of GSH in cells exposed to Pb. However, EGCG did not elicit any significant effect on release of PGE₂ indicating the nature of EGCG as an effective anti-apoptotic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory agent.     

水稻对UV-B辐射响应的敏感性差异

综述了UV-B辐射对水稻（Oryza sativa L.）的影响和水稻对UV-B辐射的抗性机制。UV-B辐射对水稻生长、叶片形态、生物量、产量、光合系统、病害等产生一定的影响。水稻对UV-B辐射的敏感性因子主要有CPD光解酶、UV-B吸收物质、抗氧化酶等。UV-B辐射使水稻叶片中产生了ROS,导致Rubisco酶降解,光合色素含量变化,抑制了光合作用,最终影响水稻籽粒形成和产量。水稻对UV-B辐射响应存在着品种差异,CPD光解酶编码基因的自然突变会引起水稻UV-B敏感性的差异,CPD光解酶活性是水稻对UV-B敏感性的关键因素。通过建立响应指数公式,对水稻UV-B响应敏感性的品种差异进行评估,存在品种差异的原因主要是基因、生长、生理、生育期和环境背景的差异。最后对UV-B辐射对水稻的影响、水稻对UV-B响应的差异及机理有待深入研究的方向进行了展望。     

Drought stress induced changes in lipid peroxidation and antioxidant system in genus Avena

Seven species of genus Avena viz., Avena sativa, Avena strigosa, Avena brevis, Avena vaviloviana, Avena abyssinica, Avena marocana and Avena sterilis were used to study the impact of drought stress on lipid peroxidation and other antioxidant enzymes. Maximum increase in the catalase activity was recorded in A. vaviloviana (129.97%) followed by A. sativa (122.82%) and A. brevis (83.38%) at vegetative stage; however at flowering stage the maximum increase was reported in A. sativa (25.62%) followed by A. sterilis (20.46%) and A. brevis (18.53%). At vegetative stage drought, maximum increase in peroxidase activity was recorded in A. sativa (122.82%) followed by A. brevis (83.38%) and A. sterilis (49.78%). Flowering stage drought, showed maximum increase in A. Sativa (27.09%) followed by A. marocana (23.50%) and A. sterilis (20.46%). A. sativa and A. sterilis showed stress tolerance at both the stages by accumulating higher percentage of peroxidase followed by A. brevis at vegetative and A. marocana at flowering stage. Level of lipid peroxidation in terms of Malondialdehyde (MDA) content was increased in the leaves when plants were subjected to moisture stress. The rate of increase in lipid peroxidation occurs irrespective of stage however; maximum increase was recorded in A. strigosa at both the stages. Avena species which showed high level of MDA content, indicates more lipid peroxidation and more membrane permeability and are comparatively more susceptible for water stress than those which produce less Malondialdehyde (MDA) content at higher magnitude of water stress such species have better capability for moisture stress tolerance.     

Diel fluctuations of mycosporine-like amino acids in shallow-water scleractinian corals

Reports of bathymetric decrease in the total mycosporine-like amino acid (MAA) concentration of benthic invertebrates suggest that light gradients may be important determinants of MAA content. With the pronounced diel light changes, distinct temporal variations in MAA concentrations might also be expected. We examined the changes in the abundance of MAA in three shallow-water scleractinian corals, Pavona divaricata, Galaxea fascicularis and Montipora digitata from Okinawa, Japan, in relation to daily cycles in solar radiation and tested whether the species have different capabilities for protection against UVR depending on their MAA composition. The results show that symbiotic algae freshly isolated from the investigated coral species do not contain MAAs and that distribution of these compounds resided only within the animal tissue. Total MAA content in the tissue of P. divaricata, G. fascicularis and M. digitata rose rapidly at midday and significantly dropped at night. The observed variations were by a factor of two and, thus, very dramatic. For all the investigated coral species, total MAA concentrations were significantly correlated with the diurnal cycle in solar radiation, during both winter and summer seasons. Seawater temperature was significantly correlated with MAA levels only in the June experiment, but represented no more than 20% of the MAA variation in all three coral species, whereas solar radiation explained 60–70% of the MAA fluctuations. This suggests that MAAs are an integral component of the hard corals biochemical defense system against high solar irradiance stress. The diurnal increase in total MAA concentrations was due to an increase in the concentration of imino-MAA species of up to 2–2.5-fold of their pre-dawn values. In contrast, the oxocarbonyl-MAA mycosporine-glycine (Myc-Gly) showed the lowest (Tukey–Kramer HSD test: P<0.05) values at midday, compared to afternoon and night hours. Analysis of diel changes in chlorophyll fluorescence and chlorophyll a content of the investigated species revealed that P. divaricata and G. fascicularis were less sensitive to the high levels of ambient irradiance compared to M. digitata. In P. divaricata and G. fascicularis, Myc-Gly, an MAA with an antioxidant function, is the most abundant MAA, contributing about 70% to the total MAA pool, whereas the major MAA factions in M. digitata were represented by oxidatively robust imino-MAAs. We speculate that MAAs furnish scleractinian corals with protection from biologically damaging ultraviolet radiation through both the direct sunscreening activity of imino-MAAs and the antioxidant properties of oxocarbonyl-MAAs and suggest that the predominance, in the host tissue, of MAA species with an antioxidant ability may render corals more tolerant to high photosynthetically active and ultraviolet radiation.Communicated by T. Ikeda, Hakodate     

Consequences of behavioral vs. numerical dominance on foraging activity of desert seed-eating ants

Dominance relationships among species play a major role in the structure of animal communities. Yet, dominant species with different trade-offs in resource exploitation and monopolization could affect community structure in variable ways. In ants, dominant species could be classified into either behavioral dominants that exhibit territorial aggression or numerical dominants that exhibit high biomass or frequency of occurrence. While each class of dominance has generally been found to negatively affect the foraging activity of species in ant communities, the concurrent effect of both classes of species has never been tested. Here, we examined the effects of two behaviorally dominant species, Crematogaster inermis and Monomorium salomonis, and a numerically dominant species, Messor arenarius, on the foraging behavior of seed-eating species in a desert ant assemblage. In a 1-year study, the foraging activity of the ant species was assessed using seed baits, which were sampled during night and day. While the numerically dominant species exhibited high foraging efficiency and negatively affected the ability of other seed-eating species to obtain seeds, significantly more seeds remained at baits that were occupied the previous night by each of the two behaviorally dominant species, possibly due to aggressive exclusion of M. arenarius foragers from the baits. This exclusion also facilitated greater foraging activity of the seed-eating species. Our results demonstrate how these two types of dominance could differently affect the foraging activity of ant species in the community.     

Effect of acute whole-body proton irradiation on hematological and intestinal variables in mice

Female C57BL/6 mice were exposed to a single dose of protons or ⁶⁰Co gamma rays at 20 mGy and 2 Gy, which represent the recommended limit for annual occupational exposure and the daily fractional dose for patients undergoing radiotherapy, respectively. A control group was not exposed to radiation. The number of peripheral blood, bone marrow, and spleen cells was assessed 24 h after radiation to investigate the marrow suppression. The number of lymphocytes and neutrophils in peripheral blood was significantly lower in mice exposed to the higher dose of radiation than in the nonirradiated mice. However, at a low dose of radiation, there were no discernable hematological effects. The frequency of micronuclei in bone marrow cells was increased only after the high dose of gamma radiation. Radiation-induced intestinal apoptosis was measured using terminal deoxynucleotide transferase labeling assay. The magnitude of damage was greater after gamma irradiation than after proton irradiation at the same dose. Among the systemic biological end point to predict whole body radiation effect, the apoptosis of intestinal crypts may be the most sensitive parameter to provide information even at low dose of radiation.     

Interactive effects of UV radiation and enhanced temperature on photosynthesis, phlorotannin induction and antioxidant activities of two sub-Antarctic brown algae

Lessonia nigrescens and Durvillaea antarctica, two large sub-Antarctic brown algae from the southern Chilean coast, were exposed to solar UV radiation in an outdoor system during a summer day (for 11 h) as well as to artificial UV radiation under controlled laboratory conditions at two temperatures (15 and 20 °C) for 72 h. Chlorophyll a fluorescence–based photoinhibition of photosynthesis was measured during the outdoor exposure, while electron transport rates, lipid peroxidation, antioxidant activity and content of phlorotannins were determined at different time intervals during the laboratory exposure. Under natural solar irradiances in summer, both species displayed well-developed dynamic photoinhibition: F _v/F _m values decreased by 70 % at noon coinciding with the levels of PAR >1,500 μmol m^?2 s^?1 and UV-B radiation >1 W m^?2 and recovered substantially in the afternoon. In treatments including UV radiation, recovery in D. antarctica started already during the highest irradiances at noon. The results from laboratory exposures revealed that (a) elevated temperature of 20 °C exacerbated the detrimental effects of UV radiation on photochemical parameters (F _v/F _m and ETR); (b) peroxidative damage measured as MDA formation occurred rapidly and was strongly correlated with the decrease in F _v/F _m, especially at elevated temperature of 20 °C; (c) the antioxidant activity and increases in soluble phlorotannins were positively correlated mainly in response to UV radiation; (d) phlorotannins were rapidly induced but strongly impaired at 20 °C. In general, short-term (2–6 h) exposures to enhanced UV radiation and temperature were effective to activate the photochemical and biochemical defenses against oxidative stress, and they continued operative during 72 h, a time span clearly exceeding the tidal or diurnal period. Furthermore, when algae were exposed to dim light and control temperature of 15 °C for 6 h, F _v/F _m increased and lipid peroxidation decreased, indicating consistently that algae retained their ability for recovery. D. antarctica was the most sensitive species to elevated temperature for prolonged periods in the laboratory. Although no conclusive evidence for the effect of the buoyancy of fronds was found, the interspecific discrepancies in thermo-sensitivity in the UV responses found in this study are consistent with various ecological and biogeographical differences described for these species.     

Depth-dependent responses to solar ultraviolet radiation and oxidative stress in the zooxanthellate coral Acropora microphthalma

Colonies of Acropora microphthalma (Verrill 1869) were transferred from depths of 2 to 3, 10, 20, and 30 m to UV-transparent and UV-opaque respirometry chambers placed at 1 m depth at Bowl Reef, Great Barrier Reef, in March 1989. Peak rates of photosynthesis in colonies originating at 2 and 10 m were unaffected by solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation at 1 m, whereas photosynthesis showed 30 and 38% inhibition in colonies transferred from 20 and 30 m, respectively. This differential sensitivity of corals to UV radiation was consistent with the five- to tenfold higher concentrations of UV-absorbing, mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs, putative defenses against UV) in 2- and 10-m colonies compared with 20- and 30-m colonies. Photosynthesis in zooxanthellae freshly isolated from 2- and 10-m corals, however, was inhibited by UV, indicating that the host's tissues, which contain 95% of the total MAAs in corals at these depths, are the first line of defense against solar UV and provide protection to their endosymbiotic algae. The general bathymetric decline in the activities of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the host, and SOD, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase in the zooxanthellae, is related to the decrease in potential for photooxidative stress with increasing depth.     

Deep-sea bottom-living fishes at two repeat stations at 2 200 and 2 900 m in the Rockall Trough,northeastern Atlantic Ocean

Repeated sampling of deep-sea bottom-living fishes was conducted at two stations in the Rockall Trough at depths of 2 200 and 2 900 m. The 2 200 m station (M) was sampled 16 times by an Agassiz trawl between April 1978 and April 1985 and yielded 473 fish belonging to 17 species. The 2 900 m permanent station (PS) yielded 781 fish belonging to 11 species from 9 Agassiz trawls, 2 small box otter trawls, 4 semi-balloon otter trawls and 7 epibenthic sledges between March 1975 and April 1985. Macrourid fishes were numerically dominant at both stations with Coryphaenoides guentheri and Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus) armatus being the most abundant species at M and PS, respectively. In terms of biomass the morid, Antimora rostrata, was dominant at M but C. (N.) armatus was dominant at PS. The only species that showed clear evidence of a seasonal reproductive cycle was C. guentheri. Many species showed no indication of reproducing in the Rockall Trough. The diets of almost all the species are described and considered in relation to the food resources exploited. Investigations on the pelagic and benthic invertebrate faunas at these stations should reveal the extent to which the bottom-living fishes exploit the available resources.     

增强UV-B辐射对植物的影响

综述了大气臭氧层的减少是影响地面UV-B辐射增强的主要因素,并进一步简述了增强UV-B辐射对陆生植物影响的最新研究进展。UV-B辐射一方面在分子水平上直接或间接地损害植物的DNA分子和蛋白质的结构,从而影响植物的各种生理生化过程影响;另一方面对植物的形态学特征(如叶表皮结构和花的形态结构等)产生广泛的影响。过强的UV-B辐射穿过叶表皮后直接对植物的光合系统、膜系统和植物生长调控激素等方面产生影响,从而会在植株个体、种群和生态系统等层次上表现出来。增强UV-B辐射作为全球变化因子,可导致敏感植物种类的死亡或退化,较能忍耐UV-B辐射的耐荫树种比阳生树种的适应性更强,能竞争到更多的利用资源,因此,在全球UV-B辐射增强下阳生树种可能会提早退出植物群落,这对森林群落的演替更新会起着重要的作用。文章还综述了UV-B辐射与其它污染胁迫因子和环境因子的复合作用共同对植物产生的影响,以及植物对UV-B辐射的防御和修复等防护对策,提出了今后要加强对生态系统的大尺度、长时间的宏观研究,以及开展增强UV-B辐射对地下生态学,对DNA的修复与表达机理,对植物信号接收和传导的新途径等方面的研究。     

Age effect on the antioxidant activity of Daphnia magna (Anomopoda: Daphniidae): does younger mean more sensitivity?

It has been accepted that for most species newborns and senescent organisms are more sensitive than other ages to environmental stressors. Nevertheless, it must be considered that there are several biochemical and physiological compensatory processes which are not expressed with the same magnitude during the whole life cycle. With this aim, Daphnia magna individuals of different age were exposed to hexavalent chromium, Cr (VI), at two different sublethal concentrations (0.032 and 0.0064 mg l(-1)), and the activity of some antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were evaluated during most of the life cycle of this cladoceran. The antioxidant enzymatic activity showed an inverse relationship with respect to age. The activity of CAT, GR and GPx were increased in the two treated groups, at all life stages tested. On the other hand, the activity of SOD decreased in the same groups. Both, increase and decrease in the antioxidant enzymatic activities, showed significant differences with respect to the control group, being higher for the 0.032 mg l(-1) group. The Cr (VI) LC50 was also estimated for these age groups, finding statistical differences among them. Even though adults exhibited higher responses, these enzymatic activity changes should not be interpreted as higher sensitivity, since the daphnids acute chromium toxicity followed a different pattern, with increasing LC50 values according to age.     

Screening of endogenous antioxidants in some medicinal plants

The evaluation of antioxidant enzymes and antioxidant metabolites was done in leaf tissues of Azadirachta indica, Butea monosperma, Cassia fistula, Mangifera indica, and Syzygium cumini growing in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India. The plants are naturally exposed to drought stress and high temperatures during summer. Enzymatic reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging mechanisms in plants include superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase, catalase, and guaiacol peroxidase, and non-enzymatic antioxidants including the carotenoids, proline, and vitamin C were studied. The strategies to cope up with ROS under these extreme conditions are plant-specific. The highest activity of APX was found in M. indica (13.6?±?2.4?units?g^?1 fresh wt.). A. indica exhibited maximum guaiacol peroxidase activity (0.024?±?0.006?units?min?g^?1 fresh wt.), while S. cumini showed maximum SOD (12.5?±?2.3?units?g^?1 fresh wt.) and catalase activities (6.9?±?2.2?units?g^?1 fresh wt.). M. indica and S. cumini have been found to be more potent antioxidant systems among the studied plants.     

Reproductive isolation and reproductive output in two sympatric mussel species (Mytilus edulis, M. trossulus) and their hybrids from Newfoundland

The mussels Mytilus edulis L. and M. trossulus Gould are found sympatrically in most areas of Newfoundland, with a low frequency of hybrids. To assess the potential for reproductive isolation, we sampled mussels from three sites in an eastern Newfoundland Bay from May–October 1996 to determine if there were differences in the reproductive cycles of the two species and their natural hybrids. In mussels with sheil lengths of 38–42 mm, males and females with mature gametes were dominant in June for M. edulis and hybrids, while M. trossulus showed a lower frequency of individuals with mature gametes. M. trossulus and hybrids spawned over a prolonged period (from late spring to early autumn) compared with most M. edulis individuals that spawned over a period of 2–3 weeks in July. This asynchrony in spawning activity between the two species may partially explain the low frequency of hybrids found in previous studies of these mussel populations. Female and male hybrids between M. edulis and M. trossulus showed normal gonad development, ripening and spawning, providing an opportunity for the introgression of genes between the two species. M. trossulus had a higher reproductive output than M. edulis of similar shell length, while hybrids showed intermediate values of reproductive output. M. trossulus females produced smaller eggs than either M. edulis or hybrids. Differences in reproductive traits may partially explain the maintenance of the mussel hybrid zone in Newfoundland. Published online: 13 August 2002     

Do biodiversity indices behave as expected from traits of constituent species in simulated scenarios?

It is believed that diversity of plant communities has a positive effect on their productivity. The benefits of diversity are described by “biodiversity indices”, comparing yield of mixtures with yields of monocultures of constituent species. These indices are supposed to capture also the main mechanisms leading to increased yield. We have constructed a spatially explicit individual based model, simulating even-aged stand development, and compared the behaviour of selected biodiversity indices (overyielding, selectivity and complementarity) with expectations based on life history traits of constituent species. The results are based on comparisons of two species mixtures with corresponding monocultures. We designed three scenarios of changes in the two species life history differentiation, and compared the behaviour of the indices with expectation based on it. In the first scenario, selectivity was driven by increasing size inequality of the two species, mostly in accordance with expectations. The second scenario presents increasing shade tolerance of the smaller species that increased complementarity, again mostly as expected. In the last scenario, shortening of length of stress tolerance of the weaker species surprisingly increased values of the biodiversity indices. For each setting, we varied sowing density and spatial pattern of the constituent species. The behaviour of the indices was influenced by both factors, but the effect of density was more pronounced. In particular, at high sowing densities, the most important interactions happened in the very early stages of mixture development, and the behaviour of the indices was often counter-intuitive.     

Interspecific Variation in Susceptibility of Frog Tadpoles to the Pathogenic Fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

Abstract:  As part of an overall biodiversity crisis many amphibian populations are in decline throughout the world. Numerous causes have been invoked to explain these declines. These include habitat destruction, climate change, increasing levels of ultraviolet radiation, environmental contamination, and the introduction of non-native species and diseases. Several types of pathogens have been implicated in contributing to amphibian population declines: viruses, bacteria, oomycetes, and fungi. One particular fungus, the chytridiomycete Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis may have caused amphibian population declines in several regions. This pathogen causes chytridiomycosis, which is fatal to newly metamorphic and adult amphibians of certain species. We present experimental evidence that larval stages may also be susceptible to exposure to Batrachochytrium . There was, however, differential sensitivity to B. dendrobatidis in larvae we examined. In laboratory experiments, larval western toads (  Bufo boreas ) exposed to B. dendrobatidis experienced increased mortality and behaviors that suggested they were affected by exposure compared with unexposed control tadpoles. Larvae of Cascades frogs (  Rana cascadae ), bullfrogs ( R. catesbeiana ), and Pacific treefrogs ( Hyla regilla ) did not die after exposure to Batrachochytrium and appeared to behave normally. R. cascadae larvae exposed to B. dendrobatidis , however, showed an increase incidence in mouthpart abnormalities, a characteristic effect of chytridiomycosis, compared with unexposed controls. These results show that Batrachochytrium can negatively affect some species of amphibians at the larval stage and not others. The implications of interspecific variation in susceptibility to fungal infection are broad.     

An ecophysiological study of some meiofauna species inhabiting a sandy beach at Bermuda

The dominant nematode and harpacticoid species inhabiting a sheltered beach at Bermuda were characterized by their vertical distribution in the sediment, by their tolerance of high temperature under oxic and anoxic conditions, and by their tolerance of extreme pH-values. In 4 species of nematodes the respiratory rate proved to be inversely proportional to the depth at which the species occurs, and directly proportional to the size of the buccal cavity. One species, the nematode Paramonhystera n.sp., is more temperature resistant at zero or near zero pO₂ than at atmospheric oxygen pressure; it is the first marine metazoan in which it can be shown that a specific biological process is favourably affected by anoxic conditions if compared with the situation at normal pO₂.Contribution No. 593, the Bermuda Biological Station     

悬浮物对褐牙鲆抗氧化酶活性及相关基因表达的影响

为探究褐牙鲆(Paralichthys olivaceus)幼鱼抗氧化系统酶活力及相关基因表达在悬浮物胁迫下的变化情况,设计了浓度为5 000、10 000 mg·L-1悬浮物水体对褐牙鲆(14.53 cm±1.58 cm)肌肉、肝脏、鳃及血液总超氧化物歧化酶(T-SOD)、谷胱甘肽转移酶(GST)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)酶活力及SOD2、GST、CAT的mRNA转录水平表达变化情况。结果显示:在悬浮物胁迫24 h或者48 h时,4种组织3种酶活力具有升高的趋势(P0.05);4种组织的T-SOD酶活力在96 h均高于对照组(P0.05),肌肉、鳃丝及血液中SOD2基因相对表达量96 h实验组低于对照组(P0.05);肌肉中CAT酶活力呈现先升高再降低趋势,鳃中CAT基因相对表达量呈现先降低、再升高、再降低的趋势;肝脏、鳃、血液中GST酶活力在悬浮物胁迫下呈现升高趋势,4种组织GST基因相对表达量在12~24 h时呈现升高趋势。研究表明:悬浮物对褐牙鲆抗氧化酶活力及相关基因的表达具有一定的影响,血液中3种酶活力变化幅度最大,鳃中3种基因相对表达水平变化幅度最大,这与血液及鳃参与呼吸作用过程有关;抗氧化酶活性及基因相对表达变化趋势并不完全一致。本研究可为揭示褐牙鲆应对悬浮物胁迫的耐受机制及褐牙鲆耐悬浮物品种选育提供基础数据。